So, Who’s the Ultimate Villain: Assad or Erdogan?

Date of publication: 21 04 2016, 16:10

The last round of Geneva talks on Syria ended in a stalemate due to the harsh position occupied by the Syrian opposition. The opposition that is sponsored and controlled by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United States and a number of Western players is convinced that the legitimate President of Syria Bashar al-Assad should go no matter what, while none of his supporters should be allowed in the future transitional government. These demands have been voiced in Geneva by the head of the High Negotiations Council Assad al Zubi.

However, even the most impartial observer that followed the conflict in Syria over recent years must be surprised with the aggressive posture that Washington and its loyal servants occupied towards the government in Damascus, in a bid to redraw the Middle East so that the total domination of the US in the region would be ensured.

Indeed, the key issue of the Syrian negotiations is the figure of legitimately elected Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, since Washington believes it’s unacceptable that this state would be governed by a sovereign ruler that is sympathetic with Russia and Iran. However, every attempt to remove the Syrian leader from power in direct violation of both the Syrian constitution and norms of international law have so far failed.

After all, if one is to apply Washington’s logics elsewhere, it would be only logical to topple Barack Obama, David Cameron a number of Western leaders due to the dissatisfaction a large number of states across the world voices with them. Moreover, since those politicians are guilty of hundred thousands of civilian deaths in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and a number of other countries, would it be logical to subject them to a trial? If not, who is going to be held responsible for the bitter hunger and poverty inflicted upon the inhabitants of the Middle East and North Africa over the last decade, the countless poor souls that have been forced to migrate in order to survive due to the irresponsible actions of the above mentioned Western politicians?

One should answer yet another question: Is Assad the only politician that causes troubles for the region? Hasn’t the Turkish president jailed thousands of media people and politicians under various foolish pretexts? Doesn’t he deserve the same tough stance to be occupied by external players on his removal from power?

As it has been noted in a interview with Atlantico by a French lecturer, diplomat, and a member of several cabinet of ministers, Roland Hureaux, Bashar al-Assad creates far less troubles for the West than Erdogan. Even though Roland Hureaux is convinced that the Assad is a dictator, just like Saddam Hussein was in Iraq and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt today, he argues that there’s a lot of other dictatorships in the world and most of them are far worse than the Assad regime in Syria. He underlines that Damascus authorities have always recognized and respected the rights of religious minorities in Syria. In addition, the French diplomat added, after the withdrawal of Syria’s forces from Lebanon, Assad has displayed no intentions of creating an empire, while Erdogan hasn’t made the slightest attempt to try to conceal his imperial aspirations. Assad has never been a troublemaker from the point of view of the West, yet the West created a lot of troubles for Assad and the Syrian state, stressed Roland Hureaux.

Is waging war on an ethnic minority, its riot police just stormed the offices of a major newspaper, its secret service faces allegations of arming Isis, its military shot down a Russian bomber -. And yet Turkey wants to join the European Union The country’s swift descent into despotism poses yet another existential problem for the west. the sight of Europe’s leaders kowtowing to Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in the hope he would switch off the flood of refugees to Greece, was sickening. After the Turkish courts authorised police to seize the Zaman newspaper, tear-gassing its employees and sacking the editors, the new bosses immediately placed Erdoğan’s smiling picture on the front page. He has a lot to smile about.

Turkey is rapidly descending into despotism, which presents a serious trouble for the West and its policies. Transcripts leaked to a Greek website last month are clearly showing that Erdogan has been overtly threatening Europe with an uncontrolled flood of refugees if he doesn’t receive a staggering amount of funds as a “bailout” and Ankara gets a rapid accession to the EU.

Yet another British newspaper – the Independent would condemn Erdogan’s actions by stating:

Turkey has become a rogue state – and even Erdogan must face up to the fact. The fact that Turkey, together with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has provided logistical and financial support, as well as weapons and other services to ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra, and other insurgents, supports this view. Last Tuesday, Prime Minister Davutoglu made the remarkable admission that Syrian opposition forces have only been able to hold their ground against Assad’s regime because of support from Turkey and other countries.

All this has effectively led to this situation when none of Turkey’s allies are looking at it was an asset, instead it has become a liability Ankara’s actions towards its people are both cruel and irresponsible, since Erdogan unleashed a true genocide against Turkey’s Kurdish population. Turkey has become a transit point for flows of militant going in and out of Syria. At the same time, according to some sources, Ankara allowed militants to smuggle chemical weapons, namely the mustard gas, across its territory. The Human Rights Watchconfirmed has repeatedly reported cases of Turkish army units opening fire at refugees, when they tried to cross the Turkish border in hopes of escaping brutal ISIS murderers. And the list goes on.

However, it’s not the first time the Western world has backed the wrong horse. Recognizing one’s enemy requires some political skills that Western leaders are clearly lacking. Yet, such mistakes are always the most costly ones. This means that Europeans need to have the courage to oppose the actions of Tayyip Erdogan, instead of blindly going after Assad. Of course, this would require Europe to display some real independence from the dictate of Washington, but you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. It seems that the Turkish bully president has become the true test of willingness of certain European politicians the interests of their people, instead of sacrificing them over Washington’s orders.